Ecuador loses more if the peace process is not achieved in Colombia

One day after the victory of the No to a peace agreement with the FARC in the referendum held in Colombia, the Ecuadorian government and political analysts deplore the election result, because they believe that Ecuador loses with that decision.

“Peace is essential for development,” says internationalist Antonio Parra Gil. The result of the referendum, he says, creates a state of intimidation and force the government to take a series of measures and expenditure that currently the country is not able to assume because of the economic crisis.

Political scientist Freddy Rivera, of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), says that now we enter a state of waiting, as the country has an interdependent relationship with Colombia, which is impossible to get out. But he asked to be careful because somehow anticipated positive and negative scenarios in this peace process had been foreseen.

“Terrible news for the world: Our embrace to President Santos for his leadership and courage,” President Rafael Correa wrote on his Twitter account and said he hopes that “hopefully peace prevails.”

Vice President of the Assembly Rosana Alvarado and his Foreign Minister Guillaume Long joined him. Long urged the neighboring country “to continue seeking the way of peace in Colombia,” for which he offered the Ecuadorian support.

But six Colombian residents in Guayaquil and Quito explain why they voted against and in favor of the peace process led by the president of their country, Juan Manuel Santos.